Robert Polacca
South University
August 24, 2013
Composition III | ENG2001 S04
Instructor: Gary Henry
Television Commercials
Commercials, we see and hear then every day, whether it’s from the radio or the television. For as long as television has been around and maybe even further there have been commercials that have had an impact on society. The commercials that we see on TV every day may seem harmless at first, but there is more meaning in these commercials then you think. Commercials influence us to buy the latest gear or technology, but what are some of their methods to achieving this result; so that they can gain the most consumers and get the most profit from their customers.
Commercials use a variety of different methods and techniques to draw a person into viewing their commercial. The advertising company has to understand what would be appropriate for any given commercial. They must be able to persuade whoever is watching the commercial, through the use of miscommunication or false promises. Most of the commercials seen in television may say that their product is better than other products. Some may even suggest that is better for your health and well-being.
They may not be telling you the whole truth about their product, like the some of the recent soda or energy commercials like Red Bull® and Coca-Cola®. They depict their drinks as a good tasteful drink to have on a hot sunny day with your friends and family. Although there has been a lot of recent studies in today’s time, which shows that too much sugar based drinks can have a huge impact on your health and can lead to obesity and even diabetes (Highsmith, 2013).
Especially in the younger generation, because when you are young, you have the basic concept of life and you are just starting to learn the rights and wrong of certain things. So they are more than likely to buy the things that they see on the Television. When a child at a young age has diabetes from too much surgery drinks that they see on commercials today; then they have to live with the consequences for the rest of their lives. Stretching the truth and hiding it behind false promises needs to be stopped and more of the truth should be shown.
This is just one of the methods that they utilize, to get you to purchase their products, like an empty promise. Another way that they are able to capture people attention is to understand the age group that is going to view these commercials more often than others. They achieve this by hiring a popular celebrity to endorse their produces. This drives people to believe that that one person uses this product a lot so they decided to buy it themselves, because they see that one particular person utilize it in a commercial (Majeed, Razzak 2013).
Celebrities in commercial influence people to believe that they can look just like the person that they see in the commercials. It also gives credibility to a product that the company is trying to sell, which is what consumers want to see in their products. Something that they can rely on and that is dependable or so they think, with the endorsement of a celebrity. But what consumers don’t realize is that the product that they are using may be equal to other products on the market. It is just that when people see celebrity use it, which makes people think that it is something good to use (Suttle, 2013).
It is just another idea that commercials show to the consumers that draw people into buying their commercials. There is also the usage of colors in any commercial, because colors have been known to influence a certain emotions a certain emotion in some people, through the use of the sense of sight. Things like usage of the color red in food commercials make people a hungry, and drives them to want to buy something that they see on commercials based on what they feel or experience.
The use of the color blue and green, makes people feel relaxed and at ease when they watch a commercial. The reason is that it sets a tone of tranquility and serenity which is a pretty effective strategy to be used for high end luxury products. While the usage of bright colors like yellow and white catches the people’s attention, and instills the feeling of energy and purity (Team, 2009). Each color that you see in any commercial has a lasting and powerful effect on the consumers. It draws out a certain emotion specific to each commercial, so that the consumers will feel more intrigued into buying something.
Emotions and mood also play an important role in the selling market of the commercials. Studies have shown that a positive or even funny commercial has a positive effect on the consumers. People feel more inclined to buy the stuff that they see on commercials, because it sends a positive message to the people that view it. When a commercial sends a positive image people feel a lot more confident about the product that they are buying and even puts them in the buying mood.
Whereas if a person sees a negative commercial, they would feel less inclined to purchase a product, because it just doesn’t put a person in the buying mood. Positive commercials have a greater emotional richness, over negative auditory emotional contents. So companies try to utilize the feelings that people feel through the use of colors and the emotions that it sparks within a person.
Although not every commercial sends an image of an empty promise or try to get just money form their consumers but also support. There are some that have a huge impact within our society; like during the WW2, when the US was pulled into war with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 7. The US at the time was in a bad position after the crash of the stock market, which gave rise to the Great depression. So the US didn’t have a whole lot of funds to support the war effort after the first initial months of the war (Norris, 2013).
In order to raise money for more supplies and funds, the US utilized advertising to sell war bonds to the American people. So that they can help build up more supplies and things that we needed to win the war. If this wouldn’t have succeeded, then the war would have been a very short one. The United States may be a different place from the one that we know today, we may even have lost the war.
There have also been some recent catastrophes in the past couple of years, like the Katrina hurricane and the tornados over in regions of Oklahoma and the surrounding areas. Without the use of advertising to raise money to help the people in need, harder times may have fallen on those that lost their homes. These are just some small perks that come out of advertising, but their influence is more for profit rather than for your own benefit.
In conclusion, Commercials in television today have had a huge impact on society in many ways. Whether it’s a small one or a big difference, depending on how powerful the message is to the consumer. Although not all commercials send a message of profit, there are other commercials that send a good positive message of doing some good in the world. It just all depends on what they think the viewers want to see, that can influence them.
References
Highsmith Vernick, Nikki. "The Dark Side of Super Bowl Ads" Baltimore Sun. 03 Feb 2013: A.15. SIRS Issues Researcher Web 04 Aug 2013.
Majeed S & Razzak S. (2011) “The Impact of Television Advertisement Repetition, Celebrity Endorsement and Perceived Quality on Consumer Purchase Decision” Australian Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences, 5(12), 3044-3051.
Rick Suttle, 2013, Demand Media What Are Five Advantages to Using Celebrities in Advertising, retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-advantages-using-celebrities-advertising-34394.html
Jeong, Y. (2011). The Impact of Commercial Break Position on Advertising Effectiveness in Different Mood Conditions Journal of Promotion Management, 17(3), 291-314 doi:10.1080/10496491.2011.596765
PAHWA, A. (2012). THE PEOPLE'S PERCEPTION ON TELEVISION ADVERTISING AS THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEDIUM FOR PRODUCT PROMOTION AND SALE Golden Research Thoughts, 2(6), 1-7
Royo-Vela, M. (2005) Emotional and Informational Content of Commercials: Visual and Auditory Circumplex Spaces, Product Information and their Effects on Audience Evaluation Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising (CTC Press), 27(2), 13-38.
The Colors Team, Colors: All around us ©Simply Connected to All 2009, Retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01276/colorsanddesign/colorinadvertising.html
Norris, David A. "Life on the Home Front during WWI." History Magazine (Toronto, Canada) Vol. 7, No. 6 Aug. /Sept. 2006: 21-25. SIRS Renaissance Web 04 Aug 2013